About Kintao
FOCUS
Completing Mechanical Ideas
Kintao focuses on mechanical ideas that were never fully realised in their time.
Some appeared briefly in watchmaking history, showing promise before being limited by the machining, materials, and tolerances available. Others were abandoned because they were difficult to execute consistently at scale. A few are still worth finishing.
We revive those ideas with modern engineering and complete them with patient refinement until they feel resolved, predictable, and quietly impressive in daily use.
KINTAO
Respect for Origin. Commitment to Improvement.
KIN represents foundation. The people, designs, and attempts that came before. Successes and unfinished ideas alike.
TAO represents refinement. Clear intent. Improved execution. Measured progress.
KINTAO sits between the two. Respect for what came before, and responsibility for what comes next.
From the founder
Why This Work Matters
Kintao did not begin as a brand exercise.
It began as a problem I couldn’t ignore.
For nearly 20 years, I have worked across product design, innovation, and experience design, 15 of which have been in the Asia region.
During that time, I helped launch products and systems from zero to market with global teams, including work with Herman Miller.
I've led the creation of a 0–1 seating brand developed whilst at IDEO, and delivered flagship retail and product experiences for some of the world’s most demanding brands.
In parallel, I was collecting and studying vintage watches. What stood out was how many ambitious mechanical ideas were limited not by concept, but by the execution realities of their era.
From the founder
Doing the Work Properly
Completing those ideas required time inside the ecosystem where this work could realistically be done.
I partnered with an experienced watch engineer and spent years working across the region, visiting factories, testing manufacturing routes, and building relationships to understand where genuine capability existed, and where it did not.
The mechanical systems Kintao develops cannot be sourced off the shelf. They require specialist suppliers, extensive prototyping, and repeated sampling to refine engagement, tolerances, and long-term reliability. Many approaches were tested and abandoned. Progress was incremental rather than dramatic.
This work demanded presence, persistence, and a willingness to take the slower path.
Kintao exists because we chose to do the work properly, and because we are prepared to stand behind the result.
— Sam McMorran Founder, Kintao